While reading the article, all sorts of things came to my mind. I could relate to the story that was told about sharing a personal story about childhood with my students. This is something that I have to do regularly as I put on five productions a day. It also made me think about my personal life. My friends. My acquaintances and what experiences lead me to define those individuals that way. Those in the “friend” box have shared very raw and unfiltered experiences. Those in the acquaintance box felt too cold or too calculating to allow in.

As Kandice says, “being authentic and genuine in your business is what vulnerability is about…” We have so many phrases about authenticity. Keeping it real. Keeping it 100. No lie… But even those phrases are like fool’s gold because “keeping it real” is often one’s ego masquerading. “keeping it 100” is often about covering up a broken heart or a jealous blink and “no lie” is often one dimensional – a story told from a very limited point of view.

The older I get the more authentic I become. I can remember being in a place where I worried about what others thought and where many of my choices were based on the poking or prodding of certain individuals who I now realize were manipulating me for their own selfish purpose. My values and my priorities have never been more clearly defined and it is that clarification of my values and the realignment of my priorities that have made me more authentic. I say “yes,” to those people and experiences which align my values and respect my priorities and I say no to those people whose values are the opposite of mine. I say not to those experiences that require me to put something above my faith in God and my family because those two forces are the forefront of my life.

Vulnerability is sexy because vulnerability is like an “open” sign. It is also sexy because as Sophie and Kandice so eloquently expressed people know what their getting and they know what to expect from you.

We are all walking around selling something. Some of us are literally selling ourselves – our time or our expertise. Some of us are a little more subtle in our advertisements – perhaps we’re selling a religion, or a sorority or even a lifestyle. We have to keep asking ourselves… “are they buying it?”